S Bank Fund Management Ltd Purchases New Shares in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased 5,843 shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR), valued at approximately $1,654,000, in the 1st quarter.
• Insiders at Progressive sold a total of 104,250 shares in the last three months, with significant transactions by CFO John P. Sauerland and insider Karen Bailo.
• Progressive reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $4.88, exceeding analysts' estimates, while forecasting a 14.68 EPS for the current year.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,843 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,654,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $265.00 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.06.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE PGR traded up $2.00 on Thursday, hitting $251.19. 4,574,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,178,978. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $147.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $253.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.